Idea for off road Electric trailer. Is anyone doing this??

[dcmdon]

I see that people are pulling trailers off road. I've never done this, and probably won't. But have some ideas for what might be a pretty killer setup. Obviously this is beyond the scope of most DIY fabricators. I'm curious on your thoughts as well as whether you all know of anyone commercially pursuing this.

The idea would be an electrically driven trailer. When driven on the road, the trailer would use the brake controller input to charge the battery through regenerative braking.

Off road, a strain gauge in the nose of the trailer would sense how hard the tow vehicle was pulling and provide assistance as needed.

You wouldn't need a terribly big battery. The idea would be to use it for brief periods only when necessary possibly to help you through some sand, or mud or over something slippery. I'm thinking a 10 kwh battery with associated drive axle would not weigh much more than 200 lbs.

You could get fancy with it and run some kind of charger off the tow vehicle. But my thought is that for most trips where you only need assistance a few seconds at a time, it could last all day.

Thoughts?

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[ShastaJT6]

Pretty cool idea. I really like the idea of having a "Regen Axle" kit that comes with an axle that is all set up for regen and has wiring that you could connect to your own battery system, as a way to retrofit existing trailers. Could supplement or even replace solar for some applications. Wouldnt be limited to overlanding type setups either - you could install something like that on a powersports trailer to charge a battery bank for tools, charge the boat battery, etc. Neat idea.

 

[Free2roam]

Sweet idea. I used to do a regenerative drive system for a piece of commercially built salad processing equipment. Using a ceramic brake to dissipate heat and a vfd to capture it. Then use another to restart another piece of the same equipment.

 

[-miko-]

Air Stream had the same idea recently - https://www.fastcompany.com/90718161/airstreams-new-camper-is-solar-powered-and-parks-on-its-own.

I was thinking an off road application for the idea would be pretty amazing - another drive axle as long as some force could be applied through the hitch to help the tow vehicle. Plus all the off-grid power you would need. A very interesting prospect.

 

[dcmdon]

Pretty cool idea. I really like the idea of having a "Regen Axle" kit that comes with an axle that is all set up for regen and has wiring that you could connect to your own battery system, as a way to retrofit existing trailers. Could supplement or even replace solar for some applications. Wouldnt be limited to overlanding type setups either - you could install something like that on a powersports trailer to charge a battery bank for tools, charge the boat battery, etc. Neat idea.

Solar on top for extended trips is a great idea also.

As I think through the use case, there probably wouldn't be much opportunity for really effective regenerative braking when off road. So for a multi day trip Solar might be able to completely or very close to completely fill the gap. This works because in my head,
1) total energy needs would be small because of the very limited time of use.
2) Even a modestly sized trailer should allow for several hundred watts of solar panels.

 

[dcmdon]

And something I hadn't thought about originally, though its painfully obvious now is that the battery and solar could be used to run other stuff also.

It would be easy to set a minimum limit for those items running down the battery. It would all be in the software.

 

[mx5red]

Sweet idea. I used to do a regenerative drive system for a piece of commercially built salad processing equipment. Using a ceramic brake to dissipate heat and a vfd to capture it. Then use another to restart another piece of the same equipment.

So do you like run the cafeteria at Tesla or something?

 

[Free2roam]

So do you like run the cafeteria at Tesla or something?

No. I used to be a fabricator for a stainless steel food processing equipment company. I didn't design it. I was the builder/troubleshooter/ electrician/////// so whenever they had problems. I was sent to fix it. But for every 3 pieces of equipment that were in the braking process one would start up under that electricity that was captured. IMO it would definitely take a long of braking to use it as a good source.

 

[mx5red]

No. I used to be a fabricator for a stainless steel food processing equipment company. I didn't design it. I was the builder/troubleshooter/ electrician/////// so whenever they had problems. I was sent to fix it. But for every 3 pieces of equipment that were in the braking process one would start up under that electricity that was captured. IMO it would definitely take a long of braking to use it as a good source.

I’m trying to dream up a market for this.. can’t believe someone paid to manufacture it, how is this worthwhile for them?
Sorry To derail I’m just really curious.
I actually did think you were joking the more I thought about your first post haha

 

[Free2roam]

I’m trying to dream up a market for this.. can’t believe someone paid to manufacture it, how is this worthwhile for them?
Sorry To derail I’m just really curious.
I actually did think you were joking the more I thought about your first post haha

Nope totally serious. Now if you put a small generator or two on the trailer axle. There's a constant generation going down the road. Whether on or off. Sketch sketch.....design....scratch head...throw away....start over.

 

[Mr._Bill]

I read about something similar, when I bought my Nissan Leaf. It was called a pusher trailer. It was a small gas engine on a trailer that would push the electric car and recharge the battery while driving. I think Toyota actually made a few around 2010, along with their first electric car that was powered by Tesla components.

 

[Kevin_D]

I read about something similar, when I bought my Nissan Leaf. It was called a pusher trailer. It was a small gas engine on a trailer that would push the electric car and recharge the battery while driving. I think Toyota actually made a few around 2010, along with their first electric car that was powered by Tesla components.

It was just a generator on a trailer: it didn’t push anything.
And speaking of pushing, have you ever tried to push a vehicle with the hitch? Truly an exercise in futility.
And a generator on the axle? You’ll still end up using the engine to charge the battery. The regenerative braking could be worth pursuing, though.

Kevin

 

[Mr._Bill]

It was just a generator on a trailer: it didn’t push anything.
And speaking of pushing, have you ever tried to push a vehicle with the hitch? Truly an exercise in futility.
And a generator on the axle? You’ll still end up using the engine to charge the battery. The regenerative braking could be worth pursuing, though.

Kevin

This is one of them. https://insideevs.com/news/326493/e...h-jb-straubels-extended-range-pusher-trailer/

 

[dcmdon]

It was just a generator on a trailer: it didn’t push anything.
And speaking of pushing, have you ever tried to push a vehicle with the hitch? Truly an exercise in futility.
And a generator on the axle? You’ll still end up using the engine to charge the battery. The regenerative braking could be worth pursuing, though.

Kevin

I'm not sure if you are referring to my original post or some of the replies.

But the intent wouldnt' be for the trailer to push the vehicle. It would just be for it to minimize how hard the vehicle had to pull the trailer in traction limited situations. 6 wheel drive is better than 4 when traction is limited.

Re generator on the axle and still using the engine. I agree 100%. It makes no sense to do this while cruising down the road unless you understand that you are burning extra gas while driving to charge a battery. Which may make sense if you have a low charge on the trailer battery and want to charge it before hitting the trail.

Also, regenerative braking is always "free". Which is why light hybrids are the smartest vehicles on the road, but unfortunately will never get traction in the marketplace.

 

[Kevin_D]

It was just a generator on a trailer: it didn’t push anything.
And speaking of pushing, have you ever tried to push a vehicle with the hitch? Truly an exercise in futility.
And a generator on the axle? You’ll still end up using the engine to charge the battery. The regenerative braking could be worth pursuing, though.

Kevin

This is one of them. https://insideevs.com/news/326493/e...h-jb-straubels-extended-range-pusher-trailer/

OK. I was thinking of the factory-built trailers that Toyota made, rather than an end-user product.
I think a plug-in hybrid would make more sense than a full EV with a pusher trailer, though.

Kevin

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